When a Chinese or Taiwanese company hires in Japan — how much social insurance does the company pay?

In short: When a Chinese or Taiwanese company hires employees in Japan, the company bears premiums for health insurance, employees' pension, nursing care insurance, employment insurance, and workers' accident insurance, plus the fully employer-borne child and childcare contribution. Health, pension, nursing care, and employment insurance are, in principle, split between worker and employer (workers' accident and the contribution are fully employer-borne), and the employer's burden often comes to roughly 15–16% of remuneration (rates vary by year, prefecture, and industry). This article organizes the enrollment thresholds and hiring procedures from the viewpoint of a Shakai Hoken Roumushi.

When you expand into Japan and hire local staff, you must budget not only for wages but also for the social and labor insurance the company adds on top. For HR and management of Chinese and Taiwanese companies and their local accounting and HR advisers, this shows the whole picture of what it costs a company to hire in Japan. Because specific rates are revised each fiscal year, confirm amounts against the latest primary sources.

What social insurance premiums does a company pay when it hires in Japan?

When a Japanese company (corporation) hires employees, it bears the premiums below. Health insurance, nursing care insurance, employees' pension, and employment insurance are shared with the worker; workers' accident insurance and the child and childcare contribution are fully employer-borne.

Insurance / contribution	Main coverage	Burden
Health insurance	Medical care for illness, injury, childbirth, etc.	Split worker/employer
Nursing care insurance	Insured persons aged 40 to under 65	Split worker/employer
Employees' pension	Old-age, disability, survivors' pension	Split worker/employer
Employment insurance	Unemployment benefits, childcare leave benefits, etc.	Shared (employer bears more)
Workers' accident insurance	Work and commuting accidents	Fully employer-borne
Child and childcare contribution	Funding for child allowances, etc.	Fully employer-borne

Health, nursing care, and pension are paid to the Japan Pension Service (or a health insurance society); employment and workers' accident insurance are paid together to the state as labor insurance. For what to file and when right after establishing a company, see what to file and by when after you set up a company.

What are the split rates, and how much does the employer bear?

The main rates are as follows (FY2026. Health insurance and workers' accident rates vary by prefecture and industry, so confirm exact values with Kyokai Kenpo and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare).

Insurance / contribution	Rate (total)	Employer share (guide)
Employees' pension	18.3% (fixed since September 2017)	9.15% (half)
Health insurance	By prefecture (Kyokai Kenpo; roughly 10% nationwide)	Split
Nursing care (ages 40–64)	1.62% (Kyokai Kenpo, FY2026)	0.81% (half)
Employment insurance (general business)	1.35% (FY2026)	0.85% (worker 0.5%)
Workers' accident insurance	By industry	Fully employer-borne
Child and childcare contribution	0.36% (FY2026)	Fully employer-borne (on pension standard remuneration)

Together, the employer's burden often comes to roughly 15–16% of remuneration, added on top of the wages paid (ages 40 and over add the nursing care portion). Premiums apply not only to monthly wages but also to bonuses. Because rates are revised each fiscal year, use the latest rate tables for labor-cost estimates. The fixed 18.3% pension rate and the split concept also underlie what happens to social insurance when you hire someone for short hours.

From what threshold does the obligation to enroll in social insurance arise?

A corporation is a compulsorily applicable workplace for social insurance (health insurance and employees' pension) even with only one director (the president). If you set up a subsidiary or branch (a registered corporation) in Japan, it is an applicable workplace from that point. Each employee's enrollment is judged by the lines below.

• Social insurance (health/pension): besides regular employees, part-timers whose prescribed weekly hours and monthly working days are both three-quarters or more of those of a regular worker are insured. At a specified applicable workplace with 51 or more insured persons, coverage extends to short-time workers with 20 or more weekly hours and monthly wages of 88,000 yen or more.
• Employment insurance: a person with 20 or more prescribed weekly hours (10 or more from October 2028) and expected employment of 31 days or more. Daytime students are excluded in principle.
• Workers' accident insurance: compulsorily applies to any business that employs even one worker, applying to a worker regardless of nationality, residence status, or working hours.

For a foreign national, this judgment is exactly the same as for a Japanese worker. Nationality does not change whether one enrolls. For how to count the three-quarters rule, see what happens to social insurance when you hire for short hours; for the whole picture of procedures when hiring one foreign national, see how many windows do you need to hire one foreign national.

What qualification-acquisition procedures are needed when a foreign employee joins?

When you hire a foreign national, one foreign-specific notification is added to the same social- and employment-insurance procedures as for a Japanese worker.

Procedure	Filed with	Deadline
Health insurance / employees' pension qualification acquisition notification	Japan Pension Service (pension office)	Within 5 days of the event
Employment insurance qualification acquisition notification	Hello Work	By the 10th of the month after the acquisition
Notification of employment status of foreign nationals	Hello Work	Employment-insurance insured persons: the acquisition notification serves; otherwise by the end of the following month

The notification of employment status of foreign nationals is required on each hiring and separation (Article 28, paragraph 1 of the Labor Measures Comprehensive Promotion Act), and failure to file is subject to a fine of up to 300,000 yen. You report residence status, period of stay, nationality, and so on. See when you hire a foreign national, notify Hello Work. For the social security agreement (adjusting double enrollment) when receiving staff on secondment from China, see social insurance for staff stationed in or from China; where there is no agreement, as with Taiwan, see social insurance when you hire or receive on secondment from Taiwan.

Who should handle company setup, residence status, and tax?

Getting to the point of hiring after expanding into Japan divides by qualification. Each becomes a separate contract.

Have a question about your situation?

Tell us about your social insurance, payroll or employment enquiry.

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What to do	Main person in charge
Application of labor and social insurance, qualification acquisition/loss notifications, maintaining employment contracts and work rules, payroll	Shakai Hoken Roumushi (our office)
Registration of company establishment	Judicial scrivener
Post-establishment corporate notifications, withholding, and payroll taxation	Tax accountant
Application and agency for residence status (Business Manager, Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services, etc.)	Gyoseishoshi
Finding an office or company-housing property	Real estate agent

The application and agency for residence status can be connected to 四葉行政書士事務所, and office or company-housing property to 四葉不動産, but 四葉行政書士事務所 and 四葉不動産 are separate, independent entities from our office, and the Shakai Hoken Roumushi work, the Gyoseishoshi work, and the real estate work are contracted separately (we do not take on them under one engagement). Our office does not receive referral fees. For the treatment of company housing as remuneration in kind, see lending company housing can raise social insurance premiums.

四葉社会保険労務士事務所 can advise on organizing the application of Japan's social and labor insurance, qualification acquisition/loss notifications, payroll, and maintaining employment contracts and work rules. Consultation is free, and fees are summarized in the fee schedule.

Frequently asked questions

Q. If we set up a subsidiary in Japan with only one director (the president), do we enroll in social insurance?
A. Yes. A corporation is a compulsorily applicable workplace for health insurance and employees' pension even with one representative, and a representative who receives remuneration is an insured person. If you hire employees, labor insurance (workers' accident and employment) is also required. Workers' accident insurance compulsorily applies to any business that employs even one worker.

Q. About how much of wages does the employer bear in premiums?
A. Adding the employer's share of health, nursing care, pension, and employment insurance to the fully employer-borne workers' accident insurance and child and childcare contribution, it often comes to roughly 15–16% of remuneration. Health rates are by prefecture, workers' accident rates by industry, and ages 40 and over add nursing care. Because rates are revised each fiscal year, confirm exact values against the latest tables.

Q. Do procedures increase when hiring a foreign national compared with a Japanese worker?
A. The enrollment judgment and procedures for social and employment insurance are the same as for a Japanese worker. However, a "notification of employment status of foreign nationals" is required to Hello Work on each hiring and separation (Article 28, paragraph 1 of the Labor Measures Comprehensive Promotion Act), and failure to file is subject to a fine of up to 300,000 yen. For employment-insurance insured persons, the acquisition notification serves this purpose.

Q. Does an employee sent on secondment from China also enroll in Japan's social insurance?
A. As long as ordinarily employed at a Japanese applicable workplace, in principle they become a Japanese insured person regardless of nationality. However, under the Japan–China social security agreement, a temporary assignment of five years or less can be exempted from Japanese pension enrollment using a certificate of coverage (pension only). Taiwan has no agreement, so this mechanism cannot be used. See the respective articles for details.

Sources

• Employees' pension rate: 18.3% (fixed since September 2017 (Heisei 29)), split so employer and worker each bear 9.15% (Employees' Pension Insurance Act; Japan Pension Service).
• Health insurance rate: Kyokai Kenpo sets it by prefecture, split with the worker; roughly 10% nationwide (Health Insurance Act; Japan Health Insurance Association. Accessed 15 September 2026).
• Nursing care rate: Kyokai Kenpo FY2026 is 1.62%, split so employer and worker each bear 0.81% (for insured persons aged 40 to under 65; Japan Health Insurance Association. Accessed 15 September 2026).
• Employment insurance rate: for FY2026, the general business is 13.5/1,000 (1.35%) total, of which the employer bears 8.5/1,000 and the worker 5/1,000 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. Accessed 15 September 2026).
• Workers' accident rate: set by industry and fully employer-borne (Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act; Act on Collection of Labor Insurance Premiums).
• Child and childcare contribution rate: FY2026 is 0.36% (3.6/1,000), fully employer-borne, applied to the pension standard monthly remuneration and standard bonus (Act on Child and Childcare Support; Japan Pension Service. Accessed 15 September 2026).
• Enrollment obligation: a corporation is a compulsorily applicable workplace for social insurance even with one director; part-timers enroll in principle if their prescribed hours/days are three-quarters or more of a regular worker's, and at a specified applicable workplace (51 or more insured persons) coverage extends to short-time workers with 20 or more weekly hours, etc. Employment insurance requires 20 or more weekly hours and 31 days' expected employment (10 or more from October 2028). Workers' accident applies to any business that employs workers (Health Insurance Act, Employees' Pension Insurance Act, Employment Insurance Act, Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act).
• Notification of employment status of foreign nationals: to Hello Work on hiring and separation; failure to file is a fine of up to 300,000 yen (Act on Comprehensively Advancing Labor Measures, and Stabilizing the Employment of Workers, and Enriching Workers' Vocational Lives, Article 28, paragraph 1).
• Business of a Shakai Hoken Roumushi: Article 2 of the Certified Social Insurance and Labor Consultant Act.

This article does not decide whom to consult. 四葉社会保険労務士事務所 can advise on the application of Japan's labor and social insurance, qualification acquisition/loss notifications, payroll, and maintaining employment contracts and work rules. Registration of company establishment is the work of a judicial scrivener, post-establishment tax that of a tax accountant, application and agency for residence status that of a Gyoseishoshi, and brokerage of property that of a real estate agent. The Shakai Hoken Roumushi work, the Gyoseishoshi work, and the real estate work are contracted separately as separate, independent entities. Our office does not receive referral fees. The final decision on premiums and enrollment obligations in an individual case is made by the pension office, the Japan Pension Service, and the Labour Bureau. For fees when consulting 四葉社会保険労務士事務所, see the fee schedule; for frequently asked questions, see the FAQ.

This article is general information. Individual judgments, such as premium amounts and enrollment obligations, are made by a qualified professional after a consultation, in light of the latest primary sources (the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the Japan Pension Service, the Japan Health Insurance Association, etc.) and individual circumstances. Written by Joji Uramatsu (Shakai Hoken Roumushi, Gyoseishoshi, Registered Real Estate Transaction Specialist).